The palace was built by
Johann Ernst,
Duke of Saxe-Coburg, in 1543–7. It replaced the
Veste Coburg as the dukes' town
Residenz. The new town palace was built around a
Franciscan monastery dissolved during
Reformation. According to tradition, the palace was named
Ehrenburg ("Palace of Honour") by
Emperor Charles V for having been constructed without the use of forced labour. In 1690, a fire destroyed the northern part of the palace. This was an opportunity for
Albert V, Duke of Saxe-Coburg, who had a new
Baroque style palace built in 1699. The construction of a new chapel in the west wing, the east wing and the central part of the building gave the Ehrenburg the basic structure it retains today. In the 19th century,
Ernst I had the palace redesigned by
Karl Friedrich Schinkel in English
Gothic Revival style, beginning in 1810. Most of the work took place between 1816 and 1840, with the palace façade clothed in
sandstone. Also between 1816 and 1840 the state apartments were redesigned in the
French Empire style. Because the palace was the home of the ducal
House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (previously Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld), many royal occasions happened here. In 1863,
Queen Victoria (whose mother,
Princess Victoria, and husband,
Prince Albert, grew up here) met Austrian
Emperor Franz Josef for the first time in the Hall of Giants (a sign marks the occasion). In 1894, the wedding of
Ernest Louis, Grand Duke of Hesse and
Princess Victoria Melita of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha brought together, at the palace, Queen Victoria, her son the future King
Edward VII, her grandson the future King
George V, her daughter German
Empress Victoria, her other grandson Kaiser
Wilhelm II, her son's nephew the future Tsar
Nicholas II of Russia (with her granddaughter, future
Tsarina Alexandra), and many other royalty from England, Greece, Belgium, Romania, Portugal, Brazil and elsewhere. ==Today==